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Hi, first post here. Im a maker of violin family instruments and bows in the UK. Ive made one or two steel strung acoustic guitars in the past and been toying with the idea of making a flamenco guitar. I`m looking for some advice as to suitability of Cedar of Lebanon for guitars of any kind. Years ago i was given a load of planks of a very old tree that had been cut down in the Uk. A lot of it has interesting firgure which i find fascinating. Is it useful for guitar parts? top and or back/sides? Heres a few photos of it. This piece is actually a rack on the back of my bench but very dry and seasoned and plenty of usable material. Thanks Robert
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It would probably work, but the only way to tell is to cut a sample into something like a rib ad plane it 1.8 milli and flex it and try bending. If it is strong enough and not prone to cracking it would probably make a very biblical blanca.
Of course your flamenco name from hence forward will be El Noah.
No one has said whether it should be used for backs and sides and/or soundboards. I would say definitely for backs and sides and possibly for soundboards. Please try it and share the results with us.
wow, these are really crazy looking logs! im building a blanca with lebanon cedar, but my stuff looks totally different, much more 'boring', straight grained, pretty much quartersawn. bends like cipres and tends to break with the grain. your pieces seem to be very flat cut, so im not sure, if it is useable for rips. i wouldnt use it for tops, since its pretty similar to cypress soundwise, no soundboardwood. greetings ben
No one has said whether it should be used for backs and sides and/or soundboards. I would say definitely for backs and sides and possibly for soundboards. Please try it and share the results with us.
Yes I agree, back & sides, I did mention make sample rib and see how it bends.
Hi, thanks , i thought i wasnt going to get any replies and then look again and theres 6 replies. It does bend easily and seem quite strong .I was just unsure about its suitability for guitars and seems a waste to be just sitting around. SO i may do a guitar build with it (only made a few guitars quite a while ago). as my main occupations is violin family instruments. The wood is very near quarter sawn but does via off in parts of the long planks. Heres another couple of photos of a different piece compared to a metre ruler(2" thick slab). The tree was quite substantial . Bob
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I made a cello out of some of the medium strong figured wood shortly after getting the wood , just to be a bit different and it had quite a nice tone ,the top was German spruce. I was totally unsure how to thickness the plates etc... so left the back plate a bit thicker than the usual maple. The varnish didn`t come out like i wanted as the cedar is a slightly odd colour to begin with as opposed to usual white maple. Bob
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hey robert, it looks so beautiful! and is much more quartersawn as it seemed to me on the other photos. im sure, its possible to make some really good sounding and beautiful flamencas out of that! greetings, ben
Robert, this is some beautiful wood there! I would build a flamenco guitar with it. Hey, if you have enough to spare, maybe we can exchange a parcel, I send some wood to you from Oregon, and vise versa?!
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Peter Tsiorba Classical-Flamenco-Guitars tsiorba.com
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